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A two-day strike by nearly 1,000 restaurant workers is set to continue Friday at San Francisco International Airport but airport officials say most restaurants remain open.

The strike began Thursday amid a storm that caused more than 230 flight cancellations at the airport.

At 2 a.m., SFO restaurant workers with the hotel and restaurant union Unite Here Local 2 walked off the job to strike for a contract that provides health care protection and job security, according to the union’s community coordinator Laurel Fish.

Fish said the airport restaurant workers have been without a contract for about 16 months and are picketing today against management’s proposal to freeze contributions to worker’s health care funds at the current level for the next five years.

Fish said the average restaurant worker makes about $24,000 a year and cannot afford to pay about $4,000 in health care costs out of pocket.

Fish said 23 companies with a total of 55 locations at the airport are negotiating the contracts together and that workers at those 55 locations are on strike.

However, airport spokeswoman Kandace Bender said Thursday that 80 percent of airport restaurants remained open, despite both the strike and severe weather.

“Passengers can expect to see most restaurants open,” Bender said.

Bay City News

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